Architect: Broadway Mallyan
Main contractor: Laing O‘Rourke
Cladding contractor: Lakesmere Limited
Type of works: supply and installation of Optima TFC rainscreen cladding.

Towering above Manchester’s Salford Quays, the new Erie Basin residential development has benefitted from a rainscreen solution that offers more than just face value thanks to Sotech’s fully engineered Optima TFC cassette system.

Offering exceptional flexibility and design potential, Sotech’s Optima TFC system was specified in pre-coated aluminium to create the attractive flat façade design of the two towers that comprise the Erie Basin scheme.

To ensure the system successfully met the client’s stringent environmental targets and achieved full compliance with the necessary building regulations, Sotech took the unusual step of submitting a specimen of the throughwall construction to undergo rigorous weathertightness testing by leading research organisation BRE. NHBC examined the specimen wall confirming that the system complied fully with NHBC technical requirements.

Covering the key areas of air permeability, watertightness and resistance to wind loading, the test was carried out to the requirements of BS EN 12153, 12155 and 12179 with reference to the Centre for Window and Cladding Technology’s (CWCT) standard for systemised building envelopes.